Thursday, March 31, 2011

Schoolboy, 15, jumped to his death after rumours he was gay

A Gloucestershire teenager jumped to his death after rumours circulated that he was gay, an inquest has heard.

Dominic Crouch, 15, a pupil at St Edwards School in Cheltenham, threw himself from a six-storey block of flats last May after returning from a school trip.

An inquest in Cheltenham heard that pupils played spin the bottle on the four-day art trip and there were rumours that Dominic had kissed a boy.

His parents said he appeared happy when he returned from the trip but just days later, he left school at lunchtime to go to the block of flats where he got to the roof via a trapdoor.

Notes were found in his pockets apologising to his parents.

According to Metro, Dominic’s father Roger said after the inquest: “Dominic was clearly upset about rumours that he believed were being spread about him. We need to realise that what may be a laugh to some young people are deeply upsetting to another.”

Coroner Tom Osbourn said there was no evidence that the game of spin the bottle had affected Dominic to the extent that he would want to kill himself.

A verdict of suicide was recorded.

Dominic’s family are raising money in his name for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund which supports children in South Africa.